The two Al Jazeera journalists jailed in Egypt have been handed Presidential pardons on the eve of Eid-ul Adha.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi announced on Facebook that he is pardoning “100 young people trapped in issues related to the breach of the law on demonstrations and some humanitarian and health cases”.
Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were jailed in August for ‘aiding a terrorist organisation’, referring to the Muslim Brotherhood; alongside another colleague Australian Peter Greste- who was deported in February.
“We’re delighted for them both and their families. It is hard to celebrate though as this whole episode should not have happened in the first place. They’ve lost nearly two years of their lives when they were guilty of nothing except journalism,” Al Jazeera acting director general, Mostefa Souag said of the release.
They however called for all charges against other journalists of theirs who are also being tried by Egyptian authorities to be dropped.